“You don’t brood over mistakes. You learn from ‘em and you improve,” the former Virginia senator, running to reclaim the seat, told hundreds of social conservatives at the Faith and Freedom Coalition conference in Washington. “And during my last campaign, I never should have singled out that young man working for my opponent, calling him a name. He was just doing his job. I was wrong to do that to him, and it diverted our campaign away from the real issues that families care about….

Allen tried to present his Jewish ancestry as a political asset that helped him become more tolerant of other minorities.

“Now learning all of this made me even more sensitive and more committed than ever to the principle of religious freedom and the dignity of every person, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender or religious beliefs,” he said. “It reinforced my belief that when injustice — whether anti-Semitism, racism or repression — arises, leaders must deplore it. Otherwise people will think it’s condoned or acceptable.”

Whether or not I choose to support Allen next year didn’t/doesn’t hinge on whether he apologized for this. I try not to judge people by the worst thing they’ve ever done…until a pattern emerges. I haven’t seen one…and I’ve got other things not to like about Allen before I get to “macaca.”

That said, he says he’s learned a lesson. I can accept that apology, and hope his actions reflect its truthfulness. Or I can just write him off, and write this apology off as a slick political move.

I’ll let his actions speak for him. If he’s really learned that you can’t go around slighting people for sport, it’ll show. And in a couple things I’ve seen from him, it has. In others, it hasn’t.

Either way, it’s not something I’m going to dwell on. He’s apologized, and I’m moving on. I think we all should.